Somerset on the lookout for its next police chief

The process to hire the next police chief has begun, with a salary range of $104,000 to $115,000.

Michael Holtzman Herald News Staff Reporter @MDHoltzman

SOMERSET — The process to hire the next police chief has begun, with a salary range of $104,000 to $115,000 to lead what’s currently listed as a 32-member department with an overall budget of about $3 million.

Candidates both within and, for the first time in recent history, outside the department have until April 18 to apply, with a Somerset residency listed as “preferred.”

Minimum qualifications include at least 10 years of supervisory police experience and five at the “command level” of lieutenant or above, according to the advertisement Town Administrator Dennis Luttrell placed in The Herald News.

Other requirements include at least a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a master’s or other advanced degree preferred.

Selectmen on Wednesday night, in a 2-1 vote, gave Luttrell the green light to advertise the job to replace Chief Joseph Ferreira.

A seven-person screening committee, to be finalized in the next few weeks, will review the resumes and hold initial interviews, selectmen said.

Ferreira announced at a selectmen’s meeting on Jan. 8 his intention to retire effective June 2.

The Somerset resident has served 30 years on the town force, the last nine as chief. His salary is $122,724, which includes a 25 percent stipend under the Quinn educational bill that the town pays in full.

The salary range Luttrell recommended and selectmen accepted included educational pay for the position.

In a somewhat confusing explanation of how he arrived at the salary range, Luttrell said he had a listing of 43 similarly sized communities in Massachusetts, some of which showed a salary range, some only the current salary and some both.

Luttrell said in towns listed with a salary range, the salaries included a low of $50,582 in Southbridge and a high of $140,000 in Yarmouth, making for an average of $104,000 to $115,000. In Luttrell’s list of towns that only included the current police chief’s salary, the average salary was slightly below $118,000, with a low of $94,469 in Swansea and a high of $157,000 in Canton.

At the meeting, Ferreira argued frequently and assertively over police issues, saying the $100,315 salary listed for the Wareham police chief was at least $50,000 too low.

The towns used in the range of Somerset’s 18,000 population included several close by: Dighton ($103,925), Seekonk ($112,250), Norton ($101,026), Mansfield ($114,000), Fairhaven ($121,700) and Swansea.

Selectman Scott Lebeau said he believed the salary range was “appropriate to our area.”

Two Somerset police captains and two lieutenants announced plans to retire in January. Captains Stephen Moniz and Glenn Neto confirmed they plan to apply for the top job.

Both meet the minimum requirements with bachelor’s degrees in law enforcement, and were promoted to captain nearly three years ago.

Moniz said his base pay is $74,308, and in the $90,000 range with his 20 percent Quinn bill stipend. Neto has a similar salary.

Among other key decisions, Lebeau asked his colleagues to expand a suggested five-person screening committee to seven members.

He said he would add a state police representative from the Dartmouth barracks and a citizen at large.

About choosing the citizen, Lebeau said, “I don’t care if we put them (the names) in a hat,” adding later, “I’m sick of hearing that somehow, some way, we’re handpicking.”

“I don’t have anybody in mind,” Lebeau added.

The town’s website says residents willing to serve on the committee should submit letters of interest to selectmen by April 11.

The only member known for certain on this committee is Luttrell, who also serves as personnel director.

The other four committee members would include a representative from the Advisory and Finance Committee, a selectman and two law enforcement officers, who would apparently come from Somerset’s retired ranks.

Two retired officers Lebeau and Chairman Donald Setters referenced were former captains John Solomito, who retired about three years ago, and Peter Cabral, who retired about a decade ago.

A proposal from the audience that selectmen include the requirement the next chief live in town, or move there within a year or two, elicited considerable debate.

“I personally think it’s important that the chief live in town at some point,” Ferreira said.

O’Neil voted “no” on the action to proceed with advertising the position as basically outlined and with the screening committee’s composition to be determined before the interviews.

O’Neil said in a follow-up interview his basic reason for rejecting the action was “the process” being followed.

“It just got so convoluted and so complex, and it doesn’t have to be,” O’Neil said.

“I still would prefer an in-house appointment,” he said, adding that was not the reason he opposed the action.

The composition of the screening committee and “the whole process in general” caused him to vote no.

“To me, it’s not clear who’s on the panel,” said O’Neil, who acknowledged that after 12 years on the board “I know I’m on my way out.” He’s not running for re-election in the May 12 town election.